Hello comm 296!

For this first assignment I want to discuss the drug commercials on tv.  More specifically, this Abilify commercial.

I also found this article which gives more information regarding my concern as well as drug ad regulations on TV if anyone would like to know more.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2007/01/30/21587.aspx

First of all, this commercial and many ones like it focus on high emotional appeal rather than education for the viewer/potential user.  Abilify is an anti-depressant drug and this commercial targets people suffering from depression. The first time i watched this commercial I was pretty overwhelmed with information so I decided to watch it once again on mute so I could just focus on the images.  These images create the emotional appeal for the viewer by introducing them to somebody they can relate to.  The beginning scene shows a depressed woman talking to somebody, perhaps her doctor, and she looks unhappy and somewhat apathetic. The next scene is the woman out on a field taking pictures with another female and she seems to be in an improved state of mind. She is smiling, more affectionate, and even her clothing is livelier as opposed to the previous scene where she does not do any of these things. Next, I watched it again with the volume and I focused on the information given.  The side effects and restrictions  are shocking! Worsening of depression, thoughts of suicide, high fever, uncontrollable muscle movements, and decreases of white blood cells (just to name a few) which may lead to a serious medical condition, coma, or death! I realized that I was so overwhelmed the first time I watched this commercial because the words and images were so contradictory.  The images were positive and simple but the narrator of the commercial just read a long and confusing list of negative side effects of Abilify.  When I see these commercials on TV i find myself ignoring the narrator and just watching the images because if I tried to focus on both I would end up not being able to concentrate on either.  Is it ethical for the FDA to approve commercials like this when they knows that the target audience is so strongly effected by the emotions of the commercial that it can downplay the rest of the information?  I know that this company is out to make profit like everyone else but i believe they have an ethical obligation to give as much information about the product so that potential consumers can make a well informed decision when choosing between anti-depressant medication.